Keep Your Socks On, Albert!

Albert the opossum is sad that one of his favorite socks is missing. To distract him, his sister Shirley tells her bereft sibling a scary story--``and just remember, it's only a story.'' The creative tale concerns a zwibi monster (`` Arggg. Snuffle. Arggg. '') who is hiding in Albert's closet. The terrified opossum asks his sister ``to help clean my closet--right away.'' The pair transfers some of Albert's junk to Shirley's immaculate closet, where Albert discovers his sister's stuffed monkey bandaged with the long-lost sock. After claiming it, he heads for the park with Shirley; now it is his turn to play raconteur and turn the tables on his ``sneaky opossum'' sister. The chapters here are only loosely connected, but Glaser depicts sibling antics and interaction with dead-on accuracy and wit. Dotted appealingly throughout the text, Ward's playful watercolor vignettes enliven this somewhat slow-paced easy reader. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)